The Addams family
Wow! You would never expect Tintern Grammar to move toward the darkness, but we sure did, with this year’s production of The Addams Family!
The musical starts with the well-known and entertaining number When you’re an Addams, where the audience was introduced to the iconic Addams family characters. Gomez and Morticia Addams played by Liam Rosewarne and Scarlett O’ Connor led the way, along with Grandma played by Kayla Paton and Lurch played by Adrian Bisignano. This number also introduces the ensemble who play the ancestors of the Addams family, including the talented dancestors that are led by Katie Howell, Isabella Di Felice, Jaymie Ashman, Sienna Hams, Amelie Yeoman, Jacob Andrew-Smith, Tamara Lerk, Aaron Penman and Alysha Veith.
After this smashing opening number, the audience meets Fester played by Harry Bridgford as he traps the ancestors from returning to the afterlife. But why?… Because Wednesday Addams, played by Emily Stokes, has fallen in love and the ancestors assistance is needed to ensure that love triumphs. Gomez soon finds out about Wednesday’s secret engagements and struggles to choose between keeping a secret for his daughter and telling his wife the truth, as he’s never kept anything from Morticia.
Emily performs her show stopping number Pulled as she prepares for the dinner where her strange family will need to entertain the ‘normal’ family of her fiancé Lucas Bieneke played by Brayden Mallet Pugsley, played by Coby Ashman, then performs What If, where he struggles with the reality that his chief tormentor (his sister Wednesday) may no longer have time to torture him anymore, and a plan is hatched. Then Lucas and his parents, Alice (played by Ashley Honan) and Mal (played by Xavier Kemm) arrive and both families sit down and have a hopefully ‘normal’ dinner. ‘The game’ is then played where Pugsley attempts to poison his sister’s drink with a truth-potion to scare off her new boyfriend, but Lucas’s mother Alice instead drinks the poison leading to her revealing her deep truth of her failed marriage in her flawless song Waiting. The chaos of crazy Alice leads to the secret engagement being leaked and Act 1 ends in madness.
In Act 2, Morticia performs her hit 11 o’clock number Death is just around the corner as she tries to calm herself after finding out her husband and daughter have been lying to her. Gomez also deals with the happy/sad thoughts associated with accepting the fact that his daughter is growing up. As Morticia and Gomez still struggle to make amends, Lucas and Wednesday start to reconnect as they realise how crazy they are for each other and Wednesday finds out that Lucas is willing to die for her. To the surprise of his wife Alice, Mal also has morphed into his younger hip-self and their love is revived.
As all the loose-ends are tied up, we are left with the estrangement of Gomez and Morticia. However, dance is the key to Morticia’s heart, so Gomez invites her into an eight-minute tango routine. The story is finally concluded with a melancholy song Move towards the darkness, that to everyone’s surprise, is led by the ‘mute’ Lurch. The truth is revealed about Pugsley trying to poison Wednesday with a truth-potion, and fester reunites with his true love – the moon. Finally, the ancestors are set free after they’ve completed their duty, and love triumphs at last.
This incredible show of course could not have happened without our talented creative team. Tahlia Di Mitrio’s choreography cannot be beat, making our dancestors shine on stage. Tahlia also had the difficult job to choreograph an eight-minute tango routine that truly was the cherry on top of the show! Alison Bezaire and Lisa Clarke were our amazing Musical Directors who lead the live band and made the show sound so professional! Finally, this show would be nothing without our Director Karl McNamara. With the assistance of Lachlan Young, these two incredible people brought the show to life with their insane artistic vision and the show would be nothing without them. Thank you also to the band, backstage crew and technical team, the show wouldn’t have run as smoothly without you all!
Ashley Honan and Emily Stokes | Student Leaders – Performing Arts
